The Learning Challenge – The Ageing Brain and Ageing Workforce

Updated July 28th 2023

In this weeks blog post, we bring you a post from our special guest Nigel Paine, whose book, “The Learning Challenge” features a case study written about Adaptas™ CEO Dr. Celine Mullins. Nigel gives us his thoughts on the Ageing Brain and the Ageing Workforce.

Three things came together to stop me in my tracks. The first was reading that if the incidents of Alzheimer’s disease continue to develop in proportion to the ageing population in Japan, the entire GDP of the country will be consumed treating those patients by 2050. This is, of course, a national catastrophe.

The second was visiting rural Japan and being astonished by the number of elderly Japanese citizens sitting quietly in front of their houses with apparently nothing to do. Rural communities seem void of younger people, work opportunities and, indeed, of life.

Third was a quotation by Dr Joel Kramer of the Osher Centre for integrative medicine at the University of California San Francisco from a lecture that he gave which was filmed and put on the excellent University of California TV channel on YouTube. He said:

“Ageing can have a significant impact on brain structure and function, but these changes are neither universal nor inevitable.”

There is now a massive research effort being conducted by neuroscientists around the ageing brain and what we need to do to keep the brain healthy. What seems to be emerging are some clear indicators that the critical dimension of brain health is to maintain neural plasticity throughout life. Neural plasticity builds, what Joel Kramer refers to as ‘cognitive reserve’. Cognitive reserve is the ability of the brain to react to trauma and to disease and attempt to maintain functionality. The Osher Centre has looked at the evidence for Alzheimer’s in ageing brains and discovered that identical patterns of Alzheimer’s can debilitate one individual, whereas another individual can function pretty much as normal. One brain is able to route around the Alzheimer’s plaques, the other is not.

Clearly Japan and other countries with growing ageing populations should invest not only in medical research to discover a “cure” for Alzheimer’s, but also in ways it can work with 50 and 60-year-old adults to develop some of that cognitive reserve which seems so powerful in helping the brain cope with trauma.

This immediately impinges on the world of work. Most organisations slowdown their ageing workforce in the years before retirement. They offer them few challenges and let them cruise quietly as they prepare them for life in retirement. The research would seem to indicate that this is entirely the wrong approach. To maintain neural plasticity the brain needs challenges, and above all it needs to continue learning new things. An alert and physically fit individual, motivated and taking on new challenges right the way through to retirement is probably the best insurance policy against dementia, and possibly the best protection against the effects of early Alzheimer’s. Four things to suggest going forward:

1. We need to work with large employers on new programs and new activities for their ageing workforce and track their progress longitudinally and certainly into retirement.

2. We need to inspire our L&D professionals to develop new learning pathways paying attention to the 70:20:10 model for their older staff teams.

3. We have to look at work organisation to ensure that the diversity of the four generation workforce is celebrated and leveraged.

4. As the research conclusions emerge about the ageing brain, much more needs to be done to share, debate and draw practical conclusions for action.

It would seem the height of common sense to invest real money into these programs because the costs of not doing this on a national economic, and personal lifestyle level, are catastrophic. If we do nothing, Japan points the way to disaster.

In my recently published Kogan Page book: The Learning Challenge, the chapter on neuroscience explores this in much more detail. You can buy the book at a special blog readers 20% discount from the Kogan Page website using this code: TLCAD 20

Nigel Paine

The Adaptas 7-Steps to Learning: #4 MEMORY – Encoding, sorting & retrieving information.

Updated July 28th 2023

Memory is crucial for learning.
“Memory is a process of encoding, sorting and retrieving information” (Carlson, Martin & Buskist, 2004).
The brain creates predictive models about where it thinks it is going, models about performance during an attempt and models that reflect cumulative learning of those attempts to create the desired outcome. The actions that are attempted and those that resulted in better performance must be remembered. Otherwise learning cannot occur.

Theorists of memory agree that there are various stages of memory; 1) short term memory (STM) or working memory and 2) Long term memory (LTM).

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s multi-store memory model (1968) states that we take information from the external environment through our sensory organs (e.g. eyes, ears, skin etc.). This information gets moved to the STM where it stays for a short time (i.e. less than one minute; STM has a limited capacity and duration). Only with rehearsal can information be moved to the LTM. Peterson and Peterson (1959) found that the more time information goes unrehearsed in the STM the more difficult it is for participants to retrieve this information.

“Short term memory is the set of processes that we use to hold and rehearse information that occupies our current awareness” (Robinson-Riegler & Robinson-Riegler, 2008).

LTM consists of:

Declarative (explicit) memory: Knowledge of facts and events.
Procedural (non-declarative, implicit) memory: Knowledge of how to do things.
Skills and abilities.
Conditioning and subconscious responses.

Other than rehearsal, there are other ways to help the encoding of information from the STM to the LTM. For example, mnemonic devices are “special techniques or strategies consciously used to improve memory – make use of information already stored in LTM to make memorisation an easier task” (Brunswick & Buskist, 2004).

These devices do not simplify or lessen information, they create a more detailed version of the information in such a way that the information is easier to retrieve at a later time. This is possible because of the way in which the information is elaborated upon. The information is strung together in a meaningful way.

Most approaches to training soft skills in people are missing an approach that enables learners to elaborate on what they are learning in the classroom. In my experience, the solutions are as follows:

A) Learning must be ‘applied’ in the training room, i.e. create more meaningful, emotional and elaborated opportunities to practice while in the training room, to engage both hearts and minds.

B) In line with the 70:20:10 rule, make sure that people get the opportunity to apply and practice in the context of work. In his excellent book, ‘The Learning Challenge’ (2014), Nigel Paine refers to ‘at the moment of need’ and ‘just in time’ learning, and quotes Nick Shackleton-Jones approach to learning ‘for people who care’. Here people care deeply about learning something because they have been challenged and want to/ need to solve the problem, and therefore are motivated to learn.

For a case study of the approach taken by Nick Shakleton-Jones (Director of Online and Informal Learning, BP) see Nigel’s book. You might see Adaptas mentioned there too ;-).

Ultimately, there is no point in sending a person to attend a training if they are not going to be able to apply their learning immediately (either actively in the training or ‘on the job’), because it will not get stored in their Long-Term Memory, unless they get a chance to use the information supplied immediately.

Plain and simple, we all forget what we have learned unless it is dynamic, motivating, emotionally stimulating and useful in the here and now!

Click here for more Adaptas 7-Steps to Learning

The Adaptas 7-Steps to Learning: #1 IMAGINE

Updated July 27th 2023

Have you ever considered yourself and your learners as potential addicts?

Have you ever heard of the neurotransmitter Dopamine? Dopamine is a chemical released when people are doing something they enjoy. Dopamine consolidates new circuits and causes addiction.
Addiction is a plastic change in the brain.

Imagine for a moment, if you could turn all the people you are looking to develop into ‘learning addicts’. They are so addicted to learning, they cannot wait to apply everything they have learnt so that they can come back and learn more. The impact of the “learnings” would then ripple across the organisation, affecting the bottom line, as your training budgets would expand twofold, threefold and more. Wouldn’t that be something? From my perspective, we should be looking to turn everyone into addicts who enjoy learning and thus consolidate new neural pathways, which in turn leave people wanting more. We all know how challenging it can be to change an existing habit.

I recently spoke at The 2014 Learning Technologies Conference in London. Following that talk, they asked me to write an article for their Inside Learning & Technologies & Skills Magazine which was published this June. In this speech I outlined 7-Steps or areas that need to be considered and applied in learning to make it addictive, to enable people to learn and for neural changes to take place in the brain that have lasting impact. Over the coming months I am going to outline these 7-STEPS here. They all overlap as you will see:

1) IMAGINE

Neurons that fire together wire together: The brain strengthens connections between things that happen in real time and predictions of possible outcomes. The brain blends what happens and the predictions together. The expected outcome and the reality of the outcome; the brain weaves its own explanation of reality that is the basis of new skills. Therefore, people need to get clear on what the benefits of changing their behaviour will be. We need to help people think bigger for themselves. My experience of many approaches to working with changing people’s behaviour, is that the time is just not put into this. We’ve got to allow people to dream, to IMAGINE and to see all the possible outcomes. Otherwise, there is very little chance they will commit.

We look forward to sending you the 2nd-Step in this 7-Step process. We are currently delivering an interactive workshop to teams and groups in organisations to actively assist them in applying these 7-Steps. Get in touch if you’d like us to talk you through what we can do for your organisation.

The Necessity of Learning and Embracing Change

Updated July 27th 2023

Do you know what the workplace of the future will look like?
I don’t, but I do however know one thing, it will be very different to the workplaces we see nowadays.

Many would argue that more changes have taken place in the world of how we work in the past 5-10 years than had in the previous 100 years. There is new technology, new approaches to management & new roles in the workplace than ever could have been imagined in the past.

I was present at a talk Bob Savage, MD and Vice President of EMC Ireland, gave at a recent conference (National Stakeholders Conference on Science Education).

EMC Ireland in Cork is their largest manufacturing site outside the US, spanning 600,000 square feet, with 28 business functions and 44 nationalities on site speaking 26 languages. Bob leads this Centre of Excellence’s team of highly skilled people serving the global market. Bob said, “the ability to build relationships with customers, to relate to others, is one of the differentiators for employees and companies of the future. Another differentiator is a culture which encourages people to have an openness and ability to transform their skills, with a compulsion towards life-long learning”. Many people don’t see their job as a place to learn. However, in another interview Bob did last year, he was asked what he looked for in people working for EMC. He said, “The ICT area is a fast moving environment and people need to be able to handle and embrace change.” He also mentioned that he looks for a team of dynamic players and career minded people with integrity and passion who think outside the box.

Therefore, the more responsibility we take to learn within and outside the workplace, the better our chances for success are. If you have read previous articles we have written, you will know that we see one big happy connection between learning, change and relating to others. In my mind, learning in the workplace is best looked at with a sense of wonder. The wonder at the extent of endless possibilities that could be explored when we are open to change and willing to challenge how things have always been done.

What’s more, this is further charged with more possibilities because everything we learn at work about embracing change and relating to others and ourselves, can feed into our personal lives, creating even more positive relationships with our family and friends for example. John Henry Newman once said, “To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.” And well, if Bob and I agree with him, then he must be right 😉

In Order To Speed Up, You Must First Slow Down

Updated July 26th 2023

In previous blogs, I have been promising we would look more at how to speed up learning new habits. We have been talking about how we can actually visualise the neuronal connections happening, in order to actually speed up the process of changing our habits!

One of the best ways to do this is to follow the steps below:

1) Decide what your new habit is going to be.

2) Sit back or lie down, making sure you are comfortable.

3) Close your eyes

4) Take 5 nice big deep breaths, breathing in through your nose, and out through your mouth. As you breath in, focus on your belly expanding and your lungs filling with air. As you breath out, feel the body softening and letting go of tension.

5) Let your breath return to its natural rhythm, in and out through your nose.

6) Scan your body from the top of your head down to your feet. Feel the contact between your body and the chair or the floor. Does it feel heavy? Where is the heaviest point of contact? Feel your hands and your feet on the floor. Allow everything to relax into the chair or floor as you scan down.

7) Get a picture in your mind of you doing the new habit. Will you be placing vegetables in to a pot as you cook a healthy meal? Will you pumping sweat and feeling energised at a gym, an exercise class, a dance class, or a climbing wall?! Will you be having comfortable warm conversations with clients that leave you and your client feeling good afterwards? Will you be asking more questions and listening more to the responses in a meeting with a colleague, because you have realised that telling people what to do is not coaching them effectively?

8) As you get that image really clear in your mind, hear the sounds you are hearing, feel the feelings you are feeling (happy, strong, enthralled, excited etc), see everything around you that would be there; the people, the weather, the building, whatever and whomever you are surrounded by.

9) As you see, hear and feel everything that goes with performing this new habit (making the image and the actions as vivid as possible), as if you are really in the situation (i.e. not watching the situation!), take as long to do the new habit in your mind as it would if you were doing it in real life.

10) Now, once you are vividly experiencing that experience, start to run it faster and faster until you feel your whole body feeling the emotions that come with having that new habit.

11) Now, as you run through the experience, imagine the neurons throughout your brain firing and connecting, just like in the image above. Imagine the neurons passing their electrical charge along to each other and see pathways being formed that represent the new habit. You could even imagine them speaking to each other as they pass the electrical charge along.

Take a look at a few seconds of this video clip to get a clearer picture of neurons communicating and to help you to imagine this happening in your own brain.

Do this exercise every day for a week, repeating the visualisation and the imagining of the experience of the event, with the neurons firing and creating pathways throughout your brain. Imagine that experience and the pathways being created 10, 15, 20 times in one sitting.

Please remember, that you have to also practice the new behaviour for real!! You have to physically cook that healthy meal, ask more questions of your colleagues or clients, or do the physical exercise!!! You need to do both the real and the imagined. Physically performing the new skill, visualising yourself performing the skill or behaviour and imagining the neural connections will work quicker and more effectively than just performing the behaviour or just thinking about it, in forming the new habit. If you want to feel healthier or have effective communication, training yourself and practicing repetitively for a few weeks will make it all stick.

Read back on previous blogs if you would like to learn more about how and why this exercise will help you to speed up a change in your habits.

Short Term Sacrifice; Long-Term Sustainability

Updated 24th July 2023

As I drove recently through a state in middle America, which will go unnamed for fear of offending some of my nearest & dearest, I observed, as I do every time I visit the USA how unhealthy the lifestyle is. It is totally acceptable to drive everywhere; there are drive-thru fast food venues on every corner; there are few walking paths and no cycle paths; there are advertisements everywhere for every across-the-counter drug under the sun. And for too many people who were born and raised here it is a way of life, and they do not question it. The level of obesity is frightening, with young children and teenagers, never mind fully grown adults waddling, because they cannot walk properly due to their size. It seriously reminds me of the animated movie WALL-E (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910970/). People don’t seem to realize that there is a different way to live one’s life. If children are born and reared in this environment, how can they expect to know any differently?! Call me mean, but I know that when people eat this amount of sugary and salty food and get no exercise, they are more likely to have severe health problems in time, that could otherwise easily be avoided.

What has this got to do, you may ask, with organisations and staff training?

Well my stay in the USA, got me thinking; what are the habits in organisations that people think are acceptable and healthy? People become institutionalised very quickly and often those with the best of intentions in a new role, get stuck into the way it’s always been, and they either stop questioning, or they put their head down and get on with it for the sake of keeping their job. They stop asking questions and stop looking for answers. People constantly tell me how they have settled into and accept things such as the following;

-Accepting gossiping within the department;

-Listening to a ranting team-member/ manager who blames everyone else for everything that goes wrong rather than taking responsibility themselves.

-Ignoring customer needs a) as much as they can get away with or b) because they have been indoctrinated into focusing on processes and procedures.

These are only a few examples of course, but people accept it all because this is how it’s always been and this is how it always will be. There is little consideration for the fact that rising stress levels due to these seemingly simple issues cause people to become less productive and/or ineffective. Over time the newbies become ingrained into what has always been the norm at that organization. How dangerous is this a) for the health of the individual and b) for the progress of the organization?

It is one thing to be aware of what is wrong and ineffective. In certain parts of the USA, how life is lived unhealthily by many is acceptable, with no questions asked. It is often only people who have left this particular state, (the one I am visiting), or who educate themselves about life outside of this and surrounding states and outside the USA in general, that realize that this way of life is not healthy. And even with awareness, it is difficult for them to make healthy decisions for themselves to make changes and decisions that their friends and families will also agree to. So it’s one thing to have the awareness, it’s another to have the confidence and conviction to expect anything different in behavior or to promote change, and to make sure it is seen through.

The only reason many organisations admit to needing help from external bodies or individuals, is when they record a massive drop in profits and when customers think on their feet and go to the competitor. Many organisations are reactive, rather than actively looking to get people on the same page, and improving the awareness of individuals before it gets out of control. It’s often too late by then.

Many Americans in this area, whom I have met, and seen, need to make some short to middle-term sacrifices in their lifestyle to adjust to a new way of living for the sake of long-term health. Likewise, long-term sustainability in organisations comes from short to medium term sacrifice at all levels of the organisation. Would you agree?

Being Human – Effective Communication Training

Updated 11th July 2023

The ability to communicate is vital to a species’ survival. All animals have the ability to communicate, some in ways that are impressively proficient. However, no other species have achieved the precision and flexibility that characterises human communication, a capacity due in large part to the uniquely human ability to use language (Deacon, 1997; Hauser, 1996).

When it comes to communication, animals have it easy, in many ways, compared to us humans. Robert Krauss (2002) points out that, upon returning to its hive, a foraging honeybee communicates the direction and distance of a source of nectar by engaging in an elaborate waggle-dance (von Frisch, 1967). Vervet monkeys (native to East Africa) have three distinctive vocal alarm calls that signal the presence of leopards, eagles and snakes, their three main predators. Upon hearing one or another call, a Vervet will respond appropriately–climbing a tree in response to the leopard call, scanning the ground when the snake call is sounded (Seyfarth, Cheney & Marler, 1980).

We humans similarly use sounds and body language to communicate. However, we have this complicated system of words and a developed frontal cortex which make us more advanced and effective communicators. Unfortunately, this advanced system also just seems to make the process of communication way more complicated than in the animal world.

Bertrand Russell once remarked that “No matter how eloquently a dog may bark, he cannot tell you that his father was poor but honest.” Krauss (2002) points out that although the observation is self-evident, even banal, it points to a fundamental difference in the expressive capacities of language and other communication modalities. Vervets can signal the presence of a predatory eagle, but even the most articulate Vervet cannot refer to the eagle that attacked a week ago; their communication is limited to what is immediately present. Perhaps more than any other feature, it is the capacity of language to convey displaced messages that distinguishes it from other communication modalities.

The ability of language to generate an unlimited number of meaningful novel messages that are not bound to the here and now, combined with the cognitive capacity to exploit these properties, allows human communication to be extraordinarily effective and versatile… and complicated in my view.

We learn to speak from a very early age, which shapes and defines our communication. This is something I am always harping on about and build into almost all staff training programs. As babies we learn to communicate by picking up all the signals around us, we learn about the structure of our mother tongue and how to write in school. Many of us, also have to opportunity to learn the languages from other countries and cultures. Nevertheless, we do not have a class in ‘communication’ and all the subtleties that go with language, body language, the parts of communication that are conscious and unconscious and all the nuances that go with this. The complications of language – verbal and non-verbal cause arguments time and time again amongst people, both people who know each other and who don’t know each other. In families and organisations alike, an inability to understand and utilize communication effectively, and results in things not getting done, because people don’t know how to ask or how to empower others through their communication. On the frontline, staff don’t know how to ask customers/ clients what they need, or to pick of subtle cues of interest or disinterest in their customers.

The way we communicate sets us apart from other animals, makes us human. But in order to utilise this we must learn how to communicate with others effectively. So many problems can be avoided and so many possibilities can arise when people understand the subtleties of communication. When the majority of people spend a minimum of eight hours of the day at work with or near other people (colleagues an customers) it is vital to improve communication in the workplace.

In fact, if people attend effective communication training there is often a knock-on effect on their private and family lives, meaning people arrive happier to work in the first place, and are therefore more productive.

Contact us if you would like to know more about how Adaptas™ can develop and deliver effective communication training for your organisation.

Unleashing Personal Growth: The Power of Experiential Learning

Updated July 5th 2023

Research and theory conducted worldwide on human learning repeatedly indicates there are a range of learning styles. According to psychologist and educational theorist, David Kolb (1984), we all have different preferences in how we learn. Kolb has spent much of his adult life studying adult learning, and has drawn heavily on the work of John Dewey, Kurt Lewin, and Jean Piaget. Most of us are not even aware of what our own learning style is. Any group of people will be made up of individuals with different learning styles, making it difficult for each and every person in a group training to learn effectively. To have a significant impact, training programs should consider individual learning styles.

When learning, some people need to know the facts and figures and models, others need to experience what they are learning about in practice, yet others need to observe others doing what is required, in order to learn. Another way of putting it, is that we all have preferences in the sensory experience of how we learn, some prefer to watch, others to listen, other to feel and experience and others to talk through or be talked through step by step how something works. Either way, whichever way we learn, the most important thing is that once we’ve learnt we need to practice for it to stick long-term. Hence our focus, at Adaptas™, is on finding a mixture between allowing people to observe, to be presented with the models and the facts as we know them, and ultimately all our trainings involve a focus on practicing and ‘doing’ everything that is being learnt about. Our focus, in other words, is on experiential learning.

Experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience. Simply put, experiential learning is learning from experience.

There is a famous saying by Confucius (551-479 BC) “Tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will understand”. We at adaptas™ know that ‘involve me’ requires presenting the information in a variety of ways so as to target all learning styles and personalities within one group of people.

When it comes to learning how to effectively communicate, a person could read every book ever published telling them how to be a good communicator. However communication is only necessary when another person if involved, so all the books in the world or traditional classroom learning is never going to be effective in teaching somebody, for example, how to sell or influence customers, or how to work effectively in a team.

Furthermore, we all operate from a place of habits and patterns, most of which are learnt early in life, and which no longer serve us. Yet again most of us are unaware of these patterns, and how many of the patterns are effecting how we interact with everyone; family, friends, colleagues, and customers etc.

Experiential learning engages the learner at a more personal level by addressing the needs and wants of the individual, even when learning as one of a group. By developing people as individuals, rather than simply transferring arbitrary capabilities, we develop people’s confidence, self-esteem, personal strengths, and crucially a rounded sense of purpose and fulfillment, which fundamentally improve attitude, life-balance and emotional well-being. These immensely important outcomes are just as important for sustainable productive work as the essential skills and knowledge typically represented in conventional education and work-related hard skills training.

Experiential learning can be thought of as growing a person from the inside, whereas conventional teaching and training is the transfer of capability into a person from the outside. In work and society most problems stem from people feeling unhappy or being unfulfilled. Conventional training/teaching does little to counter these effects. Individual growth – via experiential learning – offers ways to address personal feelings of confidence, fulfilment, sense of purpose, etc. Experiential learning engages the learner at a more personal level by addressing the needs and wants of the individual. Experiential learning allows one to learn new skills, new attitudes or even entirely new ways of thinking.

Let’s face it; we at Adaptas™ could choose easier ways to deliver training! Conventional approaches to training would require less energy and time in preparation and delivery for us, and likewise, would be less challenging for our trainers and trainees. However, we believe so much in experiential learning at Adaptas™, that we have sought out and brought the most effective approaches to experiential learning and a variety of other psychologically deep reaching techniques together, to create effective interactive training services, which create new habits and patterns in communication. Hopefully you will get to experience the difference with us one day soon.

‘What’ Vs. ‘How’ In Staff Training And Development

(Figure: Kolb and Fry's Learning Process)

Updated: July 5th 2023

Frequently, there exists a disconnect between the content and delivery of staff training and development programs. The focus is often on the theoretical “what” aspects, rather than the practical “how” elements that should be emphasized. This raises a crucial question: How can trainees truly grasp new knowledge if they are not provided with the necessary tools and guidance to effectively apply the concepts covered in the training room?

The ancient Chinese philosopher, Confucius stated, “tell me and I will forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I will understand.”

For staff training and development to be effective, one must identify the most critical skills to teach, and then allow learners to use the skills under realistic usage conditions. Staff training must be so compelling as to absorb participants in its realism in a way that engages more than the intellect. It must be practical so that participants may actively use it. It must be relevant to the complexities of the work life of participants, and most importantly, it must provide a memorable, lasting experience.

Many approaches to staff training and development do not address what is difficult about applying the knowledge or skills in the right ways. They make it difficult to remember or use the information appropriately once the training is over. Most of what we really know how to do we learn by ‘doing’, so any training must involve ‘doing’!

For example, when it comes to learning how to effectively communicate, a person could read every book ever published telling them how to be a good communicator. However communication is only necessary when another person is involved. Therefore, all the books in the world or classroom learning where someone imparts theories and models on how to communicate is never going to be effective in teaching somebody to sell or influence customers, or how to work effectively in a team. Furthermore, we all operate from a place of habits and patterns, most of which are learnt early in life, and which no longer serve us. Most of us are unaware of these patterns and how many of the patterns are effecting how we interact with everyone; family, friends, colleagues, and customers etc. Sitting in a room, talking about how it should all be done will not bring our awareness to these patterns of behaviour.

Staff training and development should be enjoyable but it should also have a significant impact on the learners and give them simulated experiences they can rely on when they need to deploy them in real life.

This is why Adaptas™ have brought the most experiential learning and deep reaching techniques together to create effective Interactive Training Services, which create new habits and patterns in communication. Experiential learning engages the learner at a more personal level by addressing the needs and wants of the individual, even when learning as one of a group. By developing people as individuals, rather than simply transferring arbitrary capabilities, we develop people’s confidence, self-esteem, personal strengths, and crucially a rounded sense of purpose and fulfillment, which fundamentally improve attitude, life-balance and emotional well-being. These immensely important outcomes are just as important for sustainable productive work as the essential skills and knowledge typically represented in conventional education and work-related training.

In our view, the purpose of staff training and development, is to make staff significantly happier and more productive, to increase profits as customers return over and over, and to improve staff retention so, less budget is spent on recruitment and training of new recruits. Did you know that to hire one new person costs approximately the equivalent of one year of their annual salary? Something to consider!

At Adaptas™, we aim to save each organisation we work with money and time by making everyone more effective at what they do. Our objective is to ensure the value we bring to your organisation is, by a significant margin, larger than costs associated. For this reason we insist on agreeing at an early stage, the desired results and how to measure them. Adaptas™ in association with RPCM (www.consultrpcm.com) will bring experience and ideas to ensure the measurement agreed is appropriate for all.

Is Communication Skills Training “Fluffy”?

Updated July 3rd 2023

Recently a colleague of mine referred to staff training and development and communication skills training as being ‘fluffy’. This got me thinking, isn’t it funny the approach that is taken to learning about improving communication and behaviour in society? At school we learn all sorts of subjects. In history class we learn about all the war and destruction the world has seen but not about how ineffective communication has lead to much of this destruction. We study language, our own mother tongue, and if we are lucky, the languages of other countries. We are not, however taught how to communicate effectively, in our own or other languages, with our friends, family, and people in general. Some of us learn about business organisation at school, but how much of the syllabus talks about how important an understanding of each other’s needs is in making organisations work effectively? And even my colleague, who is an extremely successful management consultant, working with leaders and managers on a daily basis, calls staff training and development and communication skills training ‘fluffy’.

Fluffy is a term used to describe cotton wool, teddy bears, bunny rabbits and woolly sweaters and in an online dictionary I just looked up as ‘sentimental or over-romantic; not very intelligent’. To taking a positive swirl on this, when people refer to staff training and development and communication skills training as fluffy they perhaps see effective communication as an impossible dream. We are perhaps looking to do something that is idealized, because in a results-based society the impact of training is often difficult to measure. Many decision makers can’t align results with training, yet all success depends on the growth and communication of individuals.

I cannot tell you how many times recently, coming up to Christmas I walked into stores to buy gifts for family and friends, just as quickly to turn around and walk out to go to one of their competitors. Why did I turn around and walk out? Well a whole range of things. Absolutely nothing to do with what was on the shelves or how glitzy and eye-grabbing the branding was. My exit was solely related to the people on the floor, the lack of interest, enthusiasm or willingness to help. On one day there may be five particular stores that I would have spent money in. But my money was spent in other stores where I received the interest, enthusiasm or willingness that I expected or at least a glimpse of what I expected to be honest!

I am only one person; How many other people out there did the same as me coming up to Christmas? How many of those businesses I walked out of might in the coming year go into liquidation or similar because their staff on the cold face with customers do not know how to make the best of their personalities, to make the shopping experience an enjoyable one. How many of those customer will leave knowing that next time they need to buy a similar product they will be returning to this store to see the same smiling face or a similar smiling face to greet them an assist them with their purchase?

If we are not taught how to communicate effectively or how to recognize the impact of our behaviours in school, or by our parents, or by our peers or through the media, and we can’t lick it off the ground, then where are we supposed to learn it?

Communication and behavior change is simple really, yes maybe it is ‘fluffy’, but it is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing to get right if a business wants to be successful in the long-term. Any business I have interacted with and that I have been impressed by continually spend on effective staff training and development and communication skills training, and it is generally clearly obvious to me, based on the interactions I have with those organisations, those who do and those who don’t. But then maybe I expect to much?!

If you haven’t already, check out some testimonials given by our clients… You can hear from others just how fluffy adaptas™ can be.

The Learning Challenge – The Ageing Brain and Ageing Workforce